There are many things that I’ve learned since becoming a mom… but there is nothing more powerful for me to date than learning to see the world through very young eyes.
The beauty behind a child’s approach to the world is that it is so fundamentally based in observation rather than judgement. When my daughter asks questions, she seeks to better understand what she observes. In so doing, she rarely asks “why?” but is more focused on “what?” in her line of inquiry.
From this, I’ve realized that “what?” is actually a very powerful way to question the world. Consider these examples for a moment…
Rather than asking: “Why is that?” …ask instead: “What does that mean?”
Rather than asking: “Why is she (or he) like that?” …ask instead: “What happened to her (or him)?”
Changing your stance from “Why?” to “What?” opens up your line of inquiry. You automatically move away from a place of judgement to a place of understanding. Looking at the world through the eyes of a child isn’t for every occasion… but if you are aspiring to understand and accept, it’s not a bad place to start.
InsideOutAgile 